Why Does Quality Matter?

Whether you are thrift shopping to find clothes for yourself or you are sourcing to resell, it is important to understand how to shop for quality. It’s impossible to know all the “good brands” out there. Trial and error can be an expensive lesson. So, here I’ve put together some of the clues that I follow to spot quality clothes when thrifting.

Why is quality important? While shopping secondhand is already a great sustainable practice, striving to purchase and wear quality clothes that will last you several years makes it even more sustainable. Buying a secondhand shirt of poor quality that will only last you a few wears might be fun at the time. But if your goal is to have a more conscious closet, shopping for quality is something to strive for. (BTW – If you’re interested in how to shop sustainably on a budget, check out my Checklist for Building a Sustainable Wardrobe).

If you are thrifting to resell, better quality will fetch a better price and yield you a higher profit. Just searching by brand names will only get you so far. This is because there are MANY quality brands that you might not be aware of. So, learning to spot quality clothes when thrifting will save you from having to memorize what all the top brands are.

1. Stitches Per Inch (SPI)

I learned about this from Elizabeth L. Cline’s book, The Conscious Closet. If you think about it, it really makes logical sense. The denser the stitching, the stronger the garment, and therefore the higher the quality. Cheap brands are going to want to use as little thread as possible. A higher-quality ready-to-wear garment will have an SPI of 8-10, meaning it will have between 8 to 10 stitches-per-inch.

If you’d like to check out my review of The Conscious Closet, you can read it HERE. 

2. Fabric Content

The fabric is one of the most expensive parts of producing a new piece of clothing. So, fast fashion and bargain brands are going to go for lower quality fabrics to keep their costs down. These lower quality fabrics are often synthetics such as viscose rayon and polyester. So, if you are looking for quality and spot “100% polyester” on the tag, it’s probably not a high-quality garment. What are high-quality fabrics? Things like silk, cotton, wool, cashmere, leather. If you strictly want to wear plant-based fibers, there are alternatives. More on that in another post. 

It’s also important to look at the number of different fibers that make up a fabric. If you start to see 3 or more fibers listed in the fabric contents, that is a clue that the manufacturer is cutting costs. So, if you see a brand you don’t recognize and suspect it is of high quality, check the fabric contents as another way to spot quality clothes when thrifting. 

3. Care Tag

Okay let’s just get this out in the open – we ALL hat those tags with the cryptic symbols that supposedly tell us how to care for our garments. But, if you can decipher the care instructions on the tag, it will give you a clue as to its quality. For example, if you spot something that says “dry clean only” there is a good chance that it is made of quality materials or has some detail that would be damaged by washing. This is not a hard and fast rule because some 100% polyester garments of questionable quality can be labeled as dry clean only. But it is one clue among several that will help you spot quality clothes when thrifting.

4. Hand Feel

, , I learned about the importance of hand feel through personal experience. When I first decided to start a resale business, I didn’t really know what I was doing. But, I felt like I had a pretty good sense of what “nice” clothes looked like. I hadn’t quite figured out all these tips and tricks yet. One day, I was literally digging through a pile of clothes at my local thrift store’s sidewalk sale, and my hand touched something that was BY FAR softer than anything else I had touched that day. I dug deeper and dug it out. It turned out to be a Saks Fifth Avenue cashmere and wool men’s coat that retails around $1200!!! I bought it for $2.  That sucker still hasn’t sold but I am hopeful that now that we’re headed into fall and winter weather it will find a new home. You can find it in my Poshmark Closet.

So, pay attention when your hands fall across something with a different feel to it. Stop and check the fabric contents. You might just find a winner! If you shop “the bins” (aka Goodwill Outlet) you may choose to wear gloves, especially now. So, in that case you’ll have to rely on some of the other tips to spot quality clothes. 

5. Details

Sometimes it’s the little things that make a difference when trying to spot quality clothes when thrifting. Many quality items will have little details that seem unnecessary on first inspection, but make that garment really special. For example, I have a Roberto Cavalli blazer that I thrifted for $2. When I first spotted it in a pile of a bunch of other random stuff it didn’t seem special. But, then I notice the fabric on the buttons. I took a closer look and realized what a gorgeous blazer it was. At first I was going to sell it, but the comps were all over the place. I tried it on and it fit! Given my absolute love of blazers I decided to keep it for myself as part of the capsule wardrobe I am working on. (More on that later.)

6. Price

This clue is last on the list on purpose. Price can be very deceiving. But, it can offer some clues as to whether something is quality or not. Quality typically costs more because of the use of better materials and more careful craftsmanship.

If you are a reseller, chances are that you relish in the discovery of a high-end item marked at a ridiculously low price. Like the $1200 coat for $2 that I mentioned above. But, sometimes paying a little more for something is the right call. For example, recently I visited a Goodwill “boutique” location that had a lot of nice items. Some were what I would consider high quality and some were just nice-ish mall brands. But I went in there looking for something high end that I might be able to flip. I found a St. John skirt for just $12! I’ve heard of others finding Doc Martins for $20 and other high end or in-demand brands for a little more. Now, if I got a Gap skirt for $12 of course I probably couldn’t flip it for a profit. But, because I went to the “expensive” thrift store I was able to find some good stuff. 

Do some thrift stores mark up mid-tier brands just because they are popular? Yes! My local Salvation Army marks up all their LOFT and Zara items but will often overlook less obvious brands. Again, there is a reason that price is at the bottom of the list of clues. But, it is one way to find quality clothes when thrifting. 

Give it a Try

Next time you go out thrifting, try using these clues to spot quality garments. You might just be surprised what you can find that others would overlook!